Rotary turbine type hydraulic coupling



Nov. 13, 1951 s, NQWAK 2,574,492

A ROTARY TURBINE TYPE HYDRAULIC COUPLING Filed May 14, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 $25. H C? r I77 I? 47 A7 J5 A7 A6 44 IN V EN TOR.

Jay/? A5? M ra/r BY Wan ATTORNE'VJ Nov. 13, 1951 js, N WA 2,574,492

ROTARY TURBINE TYPE HYDRAULIC COUPLING Filed May 14, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Nov. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RDTARY TURBINE TYPE HYDRAULIC GOUPLING David s'. steak, Silver Lake, Minn. Application May 14, 1948,- Serial No, 27,133

era-54 rpitchof' the blades of one of the rotors can be changed to vary the amount of hydraulic coupling between the drive and driven rotors at will,

the primaryobject of the invention being toprovide an efficient and effective device of this kind which is simple and relativelyinexpensive in construction, and is especially, although 'not exclusively; adapted'for'use in-automotive vehicles and "the like.

Another important object of the invention is the-provision of'a device of the character indicated above having a driven rotor having blades 'inounted for rotation on theiraxes connected to manual means for feathering these blades in a manner to increase or reduce at will the amount of fluidcoupling between the drive rotorand the driven rotor,'the driven rotor being arranged in a casing having conduit means for by-passing back to the zone of thedriven rotor the hydraulic fluid acting upon-and passingthe driven rotor, whereby interference bysuch fluid with the action of the driven rotor is eliminated or'substantially reduced and efficient circulation 'of the fluid be- I tween the drive anddriven rotors is promoted.

"Other important objects and advantageous features of theinvention will be apparent from the following description and accompanying "drawings, wherein for present, purposes of illust'ration only, a specific embodiment of the invention is set forth in detail.

In the drawings: Figure 1- is'a vertical'longitudinal section, Figures 2, 3 and 4' are transverse vertical sectionstaken through Figure l on the lines"22,

33 '-and l*4, respectively.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral '5tgenerally designates'the casing or the illustrated device, comprising an intermediate section B, afr'ont section 6', and a rear section I, the intermediate section having lateral flanges'il,

'9 which are secured to lateral'flanges liluan'd II on the front and rear sections, respectively,by 'means of bolts [2, as shown iirFigure'l.

seal 20, through which a feathering hand lever'2l passes into theinterior of the casing, which is pivotally mounted on a bracket 22 on the top of the intermediate section. n

Secured axially in-the-forwa'rd end of themtermediate section is the fluid turbulence reducer Bby'turningthem correspondingly on their stems 1-39 and pins 4!, so as to reduce and increase, corand guide 23, formed of flat metal bar and having the symmetrical sexfoil'shape shown in Figure 3, the foils 24 being enlarged and rounded at their outer ends 25 where they connect with the intermediate section wall, therportions 26 between the foils being on a circle'whose diameter is larger than that of the hubs'of the rotors as hereinafter described.

The front driveshaft 2? is splined on its forward end, asindicated at 28, for connection to drive means (notshown), such as an engine, and is journalled in the front section bearing l6 and its rear end 29 terminates close to the guide 23, and is formedwith an axial bore 30, in which turns the reduced forward portion 3| of the driven'shaft 32.

The driven shaft 32 is journalled' in the rear section bearing I1 and has a thrust collar 33 engaging this bearing, and a splined rear end 34 projecting rearwardly from the casing 5 for connection to a driven element (not'shown), suchas the drive shaftof an automobile.

Mounted'on the drive shaft 21, as shown in Figure 1, is the drive rotor A comprising'the hub 35 substantially occupying the space between the bearing l6 and the fluid guide 23 and of substantial diameter, which is fixed to the shaft by suitablemeanssuch as a set screw 36. -Pitched fan blades 3'! are fixed on and-radiate from the hub 35 intermediate its ends, the outer ends of the blades 37 running close to the sides of the front casing section 6.

-As shown'in Figure 1, the driven rotor Bis located in the intermediate casing section 8 at a point-intermediate its front and rear ends, and

comprises a'plurality of fan or propeller blades 38 having axial stems'39 'journalled in radial bores fl'formed in=the driven shaft32, with pins 48 on their outer ends journalled in bores 42 formed in a fiatannulus or ring '43 which runs close to-thewall of the intermediate section 8. The stems 39 have radial arms 44 terminating in ball and socket joints M'serving as swivel'connections with the rear ends of feathering links 14 5,which extend forwardly of the driven rotor B substantially parallel to the driven shaft32. The forward ends of the links 45 have lateral cportions lfi joinedto a ring 46? seated in :and :operatively engaging'a peripheral groove or slot 41 in the cylindricalshift block 48 which. is

rotatably and slidably journalled on the driven shaft-32 forwardly of the driven rotorB beneath the shift lever 2!, the last having its lower end operatively engaged in a groove 49 formedin a forward part of the block 48,. By means of this arrangementrearward and forward swinging of the lever 21 will shift the block, 48 forwardly and 'rearwardly, respectively, along the shaft 32 and thereby reduce and increase, respectively, the

pitch angleof the blades 38jof the driven rotor respondingly, the amount of fluid coupling between the driven rotor B and the drive rotor A, when the latter is turning and rotates and drives the hydraulic fluid present in the casing 5 rearwardly against the driven rotor to cause its rotation in the same direction. The fluid guide 23 being positioned directly behind the drive rotor A permits free movement of the fluid as impelled by the drive rotor A toward the driven rotor B, but prevents undue surging of the fluid and reduces the rotation of the fluid and causes the fluid to move rearwardly against the driven rotor B with a predominantly rectilinear motion, by reason of which the fluid pressure from the drive rotor A is more immediately and effectively transmitted to the driven motor B.

For the purpose of eliminating or reducing the interference which the fluid moving beyond the driven rotor B would otherwise have upon the action of the fluid impelled by the drive rotor A toward and against the driven rotor B, and hence upon the efficient action of the transmission as a Whole, the intermediate casing section 8, which like the front and rear casing sec-- tions 9 and 1 is cylindrical in form, has crescent cross'section tubular conduits 50, 50 on opposite sides thereof, and a single similar conduit 5! on the bottom thereof, as indicated in Figures 2 and 3, the opposite ends of these conduits opening into the front and rear casing sections, which has crescent shaped bulges 52 in their side walls registering with these conduits. The conduits 50, 50 and 5|, extending as they do the full length of the intermediate section 8, as by-passes enabling the fluid under pressure beyond the I driven rotor B to pass forwardly to the region of the drive rotor A, without interfering with or backing up the fluid impelled by the drive rotor A toward the driven rotor B, while at the same time supplying quiet fluid to the drive rotor A at circumferentially spaced points adjacent to the periphery of the rotor A.

What is claimed is:

1. A hydraulic coupling comprising a cylindrical casing adapted to contain a fluid therein, a rotatable drive shaft arranged longitudinally of and within said casing adjacent one end thereof and having one end rotatably projecting through and out of said one end of said casing for connection to a driving element, a rotatable driven shaft arranged longitudinally of and within said casing in end to end aligned relation with respect to the other end of said drive shaft, and having its adjoining end journaled in the adjoining end of said drive shaft and having the other end rotatably projecting through and out of the other end of said casing for connection to a driven element, a hub positioned within said casing adjacent said one end thereof and fixedly supported on said drive shaft, a first group of blades fixedly arranged radially about said hub, a second group of blades arranged radially about said driven shaft, said driven shaft having radial sockets formed therein, said blades of the second group having reduced inner ends journaled in the sockets and each of said blades being mounted on said driven shaft for rotation therewith, and for oscillation about an axis radially of said driven shaft, a shift block slidably circumposed about said driven shaft and mounted thereon for movement toward and away from said second group of blades, means operatively connected to said block and each of the blades of said second group for effecting the simultaneous oscillation of said blades about axes radially of said shaft upon the movement of said block toward and away from said second group of blades to change the pitch of said blades, and means exteriorly of and pi-votally connected to said casing for rocking movement about an axis transverse of said casing and having one end engageable with said block for effecting the movement of said block toward and away from said second group of blades.

2. A hydraulic coupling comprising a cylindrical casing adapted to contain a fluid therein, a rotatable drive shaft arranged longitudinally of and within said casing adjacent one end thereof and having one end projecting through and out of said one end of said casing for connection to a driving element, a rotatable driven shaft arranged longitudinally of and within said casing in end to end aligned relation with respect to the other end of said drive shaft and having the end adjoining said drive shaft journaled in the adjoining end of said drive shaft and having the other end rotatably projecting through and out of the other end of said casing for connection to a driven element, a hub positioned within said casing adjacent said one end thereof and fixedly supported on said drive shaft, a first group of blades fixedly arranged radially about said hub, a second group of blades arranged radially about said driven shaft, said driven shaft having radial sockets formed therein, said blades of the second group having reduced inner ends journaled in the sockets and each of said blades being mounted on said driven shaft for rotation therewith, and for oscillation about an axis radially of said driven shaft, a shift block slidably circumposed about said driven shaft and mounted thereon for movement toward and away from said second group of blades, an arm projecting transversely from each of the blades of said second group adjacent to and spaced from the inner end of each of said blades, a longitudinally disposed link positioned adjacent to the inner end of each of the blades of said second group having one end universally connected to the projectin end of the adjacent one of said arms and having the other end operatively connected to said shift block for effecting the simultaneous oscillation of said blades about axes radially of said shaft upon the movement of said block toward and away from said second group of blades to change the pitch of said blades, and said casing having an opening in its side wall, a resilient packing member in said opening, a lever disposed through said packing member and pivoted exteriorly of said casing for rocking movement about an axis transverse of said casing and having an inner end engageable with said block for effecting the movement of said block toward and away from said second group of blades.

DAVID S. NOWAK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 843,874 Dorwald Feb. 12, 1907 1,095,132 Thomson Apr. 28, 1914 1,304,566 Hornbrook May 27, 1919 1,927,040 Klimek Sept. 19, 1933 1,993,741 Jandasek Mar. 12, 1935 2,368,279 Wemp Jan. 30, 1945 2,382,034 Wemp Aug. 14, 1945 

